Central Street Bridge Opening Likely Delayed Again

In September, MassDOT said the Central Street bridge project was delayed, but could open this year.

But Tuesday night, Assistant Town Manager James Duane, reading a report from Town Manager Bob Halpin said the bridge will likely will not re-open until 2016.

“We will not be opening the bridge to traffic until spring,” Duane told Framingham Selectmen.

MassDOT closed the bridge in early January 2015. MassDOT, which is overseeing the project, said the bridge had deteriorated and needed replaced.

The bridge in Saxonville was originally scheduled to re-open in late August.

In September, MassDOT said the bridge could possibly re-open at the end of October, early November.

But the report from Framingham Town Manager to Selectmen said the best case scenario for -reopening this year is unlikely.

“Best case scenario, if everything falls into place perfectly, would have us beginning to rebuild the roadway in late December. There is always the chance that weather will allow the contractor to continue working, but our roadway work, and paving operations, require minimum temperatures, and the odds of getting them at that time of year are very low,” according to Halpin’s report.

Duane told Selectmen a meeting with the contractor took place yesterday, Nov. 3, to discuss the schedule of the project.

“The general consensus is that we will not be opening the bridge to traffic until spring. The reasoning for this is that the critical activities that must be completed are fairly linear in their progression in the schedule (meaning we can’t gain much by increasing forces or overlapping activities, as certain activities need to be completed before others can begin),” said Duane in reading Halpin’s report.

“The Town is completing the water main work this week, which will be followed by several concrete pours on the bridge structure - for the end posts, sidewalks and most important, the parapet walls. These concrete sections tie in the bridge railing and anchor the guardrail that runs off of the bridge. These safety items would need to be in place to open,” said Duane.

“Following these pours, the contractor will open up the project to Eversource, but restrict them to one side of the bridge at first. This is because our contractor will be installing the ‘redesigned’ drainage structures/pipes. Once drainage is installed, Eversource will be given the remaining project area to work in. It is estimated that it will be the end of November or early December before Eversource could complete,” according to the latest update.

“This then leads to several more concrete pours, including the remaining end posts and parapets – and then if weather is cooperating, they would pour the ‘approach slabs’ at this time. (The approach slabs are tied into the bridge abutments, but are buried beneath the roadway at the bridge approaches, and prevent settlement or movement in the roadway approaches over the life of the bridge),” according to the latest update.

Mild temperatures, like this week, are needed in December for the project to be completed and the bridge to re-open in 2015, which is unlikely.

Built in 1920, the Anthony Colonna Bridge, known by many as the Central Street Bridge, is located on Central Street spanning the Sudbury River overlooking the Saxonville mills.

There bridge underwent a major rehabilitation and most of the substructure elements were built in 1972. It was constructed of precast box beams and supported by concrete abutments on bedrock. The northwest and southwest granite block wing walls are the only elements remaining from the 1920 bridge.

The state originally estimated the Central Street Bridge project at $6.2 million. The construction bid price was $4.4 million.

The proposed project consists of replacing the existing Central Street bridge over the Sudbury River in its present location with minor improvements to the approach roadways. The bridge will be closed during construction with a detour for traffic utilizing the Wickford Road bridge, which was rehabilitated as part of this project prior to the Central Street bridge.

The Wickford Road Bridge closed in March 2013, so MassDOT could make necessary repairs.

The Commonwealth said it would be a 4-month project. It ended up being an 18-month project, with the bridge not re-opening until July 2014.